Restoring power after floods: Natural disaster response and climate resilience

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has had a significant impact on the energy grid, with power outages affecting over 300,000 homes and businesses across Queensland and northern NSW at an estimated cost of $1.2 billion. As climate risks intensify, energy providers are stepping up their natural disaster response and resilience.

One company that has been leading the way in this area is Endeavour Energy, serving Western Sydney, the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, and the South Coast of New South Wales. The company has invested heavily in strengthening infrastructure against floods, storms, and bushfires. This includes covered conductors, fire mesh, and replacing materials at end-of-life with more resilient alternatives.

Most notably, the firm has raised critical network components by 4.5 meters in flood-prone areas like Windsor Bridge, Sackville, and Ebenezer. These regions, part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, endured four "one-in-100-year" flood events between 2021 and 2023. The elevated infrastructure helps maintain power supply during extreme weather events, reducing outage times and ensuring safety.

“First and foremost, our focus is on meeting our customers’ needs and providing the right level of service to our customers,” explained David Campbell, General Manager Safety and Operations at Endeavour Energy.

“Climate risk and the changes that we're seeing in climate has had a big impact on our network, because a majority of our network is exposed to the elements.  

“Be it fires, floods and major storm events that are forecast to increase because of climate change, how do we actually better protect our network for that? On top of that, we're also looking at how the network is going to evolve, and keeping an eye on what's happening in the future.”

Learning from the past

To shape its future strategy, Endeavour Energy looks to past events. In 2021 the energy company rolled out cutting-edge digital twin technology to model the effects of severe weather events on its network.

This sophisticated system, implemented in partnership with Neara, creates an engineering-grade virtual representation of physical infrastructure, enabling engineers to simulate and predict the impact of floods, storms, and wildfires.

The digital twin proved invaluable during the 2021-22 Hawkesbury River floods, saving approximately 300 hours of inspection time through real-time insights into network vulnerabilities. Integrating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) aerial mapping, the system pinpoints at-risk areas, enabling preventive measures like de-energising sections of the grid to avoid electrocution risks. The technology also aids in vegetation management, identifying trees likely to cause outages during storms.

“The digital twin has been invaluable to us in terms of understanding the impact on in our physical network,” Campbell commented. “It is the first time we've had a true physical representation of our network in an electronic form.”

Incident management: Restoring power after floods and storms

Endeavour Energy employs different strategies for responding to floods and storms. With floods, some advance preparation is possible as rising waters take time before impacting on infrastructure. The company collaborates with emergency services, police, and the State Emergency Service (SES) to track flood levels and timelines, using the digital twin to assess customer impacts.

Before major flooding, portable generators are deployed to critical locations, and staff stationed in areas likely to be cut off. Power supply is proactively de-energised in areas where water levels may reach or exceed powerlines. Drones and helicopters assess affected areas, with different response levels based on water depth:

• 3-4 meters – Low-lying properties affected.

• 7-8 meters – Communities heavily impacted.

• 11-15 meters – No road access.

Once floodwaters recede, Endeavour Energy dispatches crews for damage assessment before road access is restored.

Storm response, on the other hand, requires immediate action with little lead time. Monitoring the Bureau of Meteorology hourly, Endeavour Energy rapidly mobilises field teams. While smaller storms may impact around 10,000 to 20,000 customers, major events can leave more than 50,000 customers without power. Endeavour's mobile workforce ensures response teams are deployed where needed, whether in Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains, or the South Coast.

Protecting vulnerable communities

Ensuring vulnerable communities receive priority restoration is a key focus. For example, the Northern Rivers and Wiseman’s Ferry can have serious communication issues when power is cut off during major floods.

“Floods are a very long event with not a whole lot that people can do that time. As the flood waters are rising, you have to wait for it to rise to its highest level, and then you have to wait for it to go down,” Campbell said.

“It makes it really difficult for people in those communities who may only have food and water for three or four days, but they don't know what is the expected power restoration time, because they don't have access to any information.”

To solve this, the company uses an Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) to electronically map critical facilities such as hospitals, aged care homes, and medical centres. The system does much more than this; it is the system at the centre of running the whole network. Many of these locations have backup generators, but Endeavour Energy collaborates with them to confirm their emergency preparedness.

For individual life-support customers relying on oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines, or heating, Endeavour Energy provides direct outreach and assistance before, during, and after extreme weather events. During disasters, the company ensures that affected communities have access to emergency communication solutions, such as the installation of Starlink satellite connectivity at the Wiseman's Ferry RFS station.

Cost of incident response and climate adaptation

Endeavour Energy estimates that responding to a serious storm costs between $2 million and $3 million, while the 2019 bushfires required over $20 million in recovery efforts. While comprehensive climate change-related cost data is still developing, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are driving higher financial risk.

To mitigate these costs, Endeavour Energy integrates resilient materials into infrastructure replacement programs. Every component - cables, poles, and transformers - is assessed for durability against extreme weather.

“All of the climate modeling is expecting there to be more and much larger major weather events that will impact our network,” said Campbell. “We probably can't put a dollar figure on it.”

Leveraging data for smarter decision-making

Understanding climate risks at a granular level is essential for effective resilience planning. Endeavour Energy collaborates with the University of Melbourne and other research institutions to enhance its weather modelling capabilities. Flood risk maps, bushfire risk assessments, and even street-level data inform where investments are most needed.

A prime example of this data-driven approach is the integration of residential overlays within the digital twin system. By incorporating detailed information on housing lots and built environments, Endeavour Energy can strategically position covered conductors and raise mains in high-risk areas. This level of precision ensures that infrastructure investments deliver maximum protection and efficiency.

The digital twin is updated constantly with both fixed wing aircraft and vehicle using LiDAR to capture changes in the network and the surrounding built and natural environment to update the digital twin.

Cybersecurity in an evolving energy landscape

As digital technologies become more integral to network operations, cybersecurity remains a top priority. The company holds ISO 27001 accreditation for IT and operational technology (OT) systems. This safeguards critical energy infrastructure from cyber threats while maintaining data integrity.

“Cyber security is one of those things we will never say we're done. There is always a new and emerging threat. So it is an area that we take really, really seriously, and it is an area that we continue to focus on.”

With the increasing adoption of distributed energy resources, such as home solar panels and battery storage, the digital twin will evolve to incorporate these assets. This future-proofing strategy will enable more effective integration of renewable energy sources while maintaining grid stability and resilience.